Dear Mr. Rick Scott,

The “Stand your Ground” law states “that a person may use deadly force in self-defense without the duty to retreat when faced with a reasonable perceived threat’ ( Are " Stand Your Ground " laws a good idea)’. This law has been adapted by twenty two states in America, over the last eleven years, that the law has been created. In some cases, this law has been used correctly and makes sense when saying that the murder was a result of self- defense but in  other cases you question the said cause. Due to recent court cases that have been surrounding the U.S for a short period of time, with convicts of murder, the self - defense law has been used wrongfully and therefore, the law should be changed.

In murder cases in the last 30 years, the defendant uses the Stand Your Ground law for the reason why the killing had happened, although in these cases it doesn't make complete sense why the law was used. A New York Times article that was published in October of 2014 states that, “ Mr. Martinez, 44, threw Mr. Santos out of his restaurant on Dyckman Street after the teenager insulted a waitress. Santos testified at the hearing that Martinez was choking him when he twisted away and fired a pistol that he had pulled from his pocket”( Mckinley 2). In this situation, Santos had a right to fight back in that struggle due to him being choked. The owner could have just thrown him out of his business and banned him from ever coming back again, without the need for deadly force.  Although that isn't what happened in the end, this issue could have been resolved peacefully, without a scuffle. Another article about the Zimmerman case says that “ Zimmerman , a white- Hispanic neighborhood watchman, called a non- emergency police number to report Trayvon as “ suspicious.” A violent struggle followed and Zimmerman shot and killed Trayvon” (Sherman 2). If the positions were switched, and Trayvon killed Zimmerman because he attacked him, it would make sense saying it was self- defense since he was attacked first. If this was the actual outcome, there wouldn't be a problem with using the Stand Your Ground law. Yet, for this reason this law needs to  be altered for the Stand Your Ground to be used correctly.

A Tampa Bay Times article called Years Later, “Stand” Law Remains A Crapshoot, gives a brief on another self-defense case, “ A woman … permitted her  ex- boyfriend to enter her home, even though he was a fugitive on drug and weapons charges and had previously beaten her. When he raised his fist to hit her, the woman shot him in the neck” (Romano 1). If the ex- boyfriend beat the girlfriend before then why did she let him into her home? It doesn't make sense, when you know someone is capable of hurting you, and you let them into your home. This is just another way of not correctly using  the self defense law. In two out of three of these cases, the defendant put themselves in exposure to an appalling situation and then say used self - defense in court to stop them from going to jail. With this law not explicit, it is being used as a way out of jail, An example of wrongfully using this law is the Zimmerman case, if Trayvon looked suspicious then why did he advance and put himself into that situation. As a result of most of these cases, the law has been unjustifiably, for this reason the law has to be altered. 

Although in recent cases people think the law should be changed, there are  ones who believe that the law is entirely  fine and doing what it should be doing. A different  viewpoint comes from the Gale database states that “ … an Ocala Republican who sponsored the law , pointed to Zimmerman’s arrest as proof that the law is working and that the victims should not have to defend themselves in court” ( Kam 3). Even though this statement discloses that the law is working, it doesn't always mean that the law is being used correctly. When you have a vast law with no particulars or restrictions, it opens doorways to be used incorrectly. The article also states that “ What we won’t do is use that tragedy as an excuse to water down people's ability to defend themselves in Florida he said. The task force also asked legislature to fund a study to find out if the law has been applied unfairly. What this law is designed to do, and what the law has done … is it protect honest citizens”(Self- defense laws 3). The point of this letter is not to say that people don’t have the right to protect themselves, everyone has that right no matter who you are in life. The dilemma is if a law like this is going to be made, it should be specific with restrictions, so that the law isn't being taken advantage of in many murder case, and which results in the need for the law to be altered.  Yes, those citizens might be honest but it doesn't mean that their case is a self- defense case.

Articles that have been read about the Stand your Ground law and its issues , about 75% of the articles read believed that the law should be modified. An article from the Tampa Bay times states that “ Scott said he would not change the law while Crist said it is “ fundamentally flawed and needs to be fixed”( Sherman 3).  Although you have said that the law does not need to be fixed, have you thought about what Mr. Crist said and thought about his reasons to believe that the law should be fixed. Some people are overlooking the facts thinking that the law is okay while others, for example Mr. Crist, is seeing that the law is flawed and needs some changes made. There are major concerns that need to be addressed which  they aren't. Another article from Tampa Bay times declares that “ The law was written so loosely, so broadly that it has widely different interpretations from case to case and country to country. In some ways , “ Stand your Ground” is less clear today than when it was passed nine years ago”(Ramano 1). This idea of the law having many different interpretations has been seen a lot lately in cases that use the Stand Your Ground law to protect themselves. This law should not be interpreted in a hundred different ways a day but, sadly it is, this leads to justice not being served where it should be served. The article states that “ It was meant to affirm a right to bear arms, as opposed to substantive legal arguments or reasons”(romano 2). If this statement is true about the law being created to strengthen the right to bear arms, then it makes totally sense why the law has issues to begin with. With all of these statements, Romano has come to the conclusion that “... our lawmakers still haven't given us a clear picture of how this law is meant to work”(2). If many people disagree that this law isn’t working most of the time, doesn't this say something, that shouldn't the law be changed?. It’s an eye opener of the amount of people across the United states that believes the law is wrong and not just a state issue. Maybe if you change the Stand Your Ground law, the uncontent  about this law will settle and won’t be used wrongfully in court. This law was written so broadly, the law has been taken advantage of and therefore, should be altered. 

In conclusion, the “Stand your Ground “ law, hasn’t been used correctly in cases , where the law essentially  lets out the defendant from completing a court sentence and for this reasoning the law should be transformed.This law isn’t precise, it’s too widespread  and there are so many loopholes that allows almost everyone to use this law in favor in murder cases that claims the killing was out of self -defense. To stop this from counting  in future cases, this law needs to be re- addressed by your government and not pushed aside when anyone asks if the law is going to change. Everyone has the right to protect themselves, but if they’re using the law to protect themselves from serving a sentence and the law was used wrongly in the case, is the issue that needs to be fixed. If the law is changed and it becomes specific, don’t you think that there would be less displeasure from the people who think the law needs to be changes?  There is going to be unhappiness from either side if something is done or isn’t, but changing this law will stop the wrong use of this law, and help the general population. The “ Stand Your Ground” law has been wrongly and unlawfully used, due to the recent court cases over the past ten years that have been convicted of murder using this law, the law has to be undergo a transformation to stop future wrongly accused allegations.              

Thank you for your time,

I. S.